BMW picks five start-ups for its fintech business incubator in the automotive sector

This fintech incubator is the first of its kind, BMW says.

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BMW Group Financial Services today announced five start-ups it chose to join its innovation lab. The company says this incubator is the first of its kind – first in the automotive sector. The finalists include Divido (car financing), Wrisk (insurance), UKVehicle.com (car sales through big data), Drover (car rental marketplace), and Warwick Analytics (automatic data analysis).

After what BMW calls an 'intense pitch day' on September 12, the five finalists were chosen and will be given dedicated office space at the BMW Group Financial Services head office in Farnborough, mentorship from the company's senior leadership, product validation, testing opportunities, access to investors at corporate innovation specialist L Marks, and 'first class education programme' based on the Disciplined Entrepreneurship method from MIT.

“Despite being vital for many drivers to access vehicles, the auto-finance sector has failed to innovate in the same way that most other areas of the automotive industry have in recent years,” said Mike Dennett, CEO BMW Group Financial Services.

“Our industry is ripe for disruption and each startup we’ve selected to enter the Innovation Lab offers the potential to change how thousands of consumers gain access to and use vehicles, and I’m confident that our support will help us both work towards this goal.”

The Innovation Lab will officially launch October 3 2016, run for 10 weeks, and close with a demonstration day on December 8 2016.